1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a position control device, more particularly to one suitable for controlling movement of a pointer or cursor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many types of cursor control devices, such as joysticks, computer mice and digitizing boards, are available in the market. Since conventional joysticks employ at least four microswitches to detect the desired direction of movement, it difficult to further reduce the size of the joystick for application on a computer keyboard.
The main object of the present invention is to provide a position control device having a simple construction and a relatively small size.
According to the present invention, a position control device comprises a base board, a conductive spring contact unit and a control key. The base board has one side provided with a conductive contact set that includes a plurality of angularly spaced conductive contacts. The conductive spring contact unit is secured to the base board, and includes a plurality of angularly spaced spring contact arms that extend in radial directions and in a direction away from the base board such that each of the spring contact arms overlies spacedly a corresponding one of the conductive contacts of the conductive contact set. The control key is disposed on the conductive spring contact unit such that application of a force on the control key in a direction toward the base board will result in movement of an appropriate one of the spring contact arms for establishing electrical connection with the corresponding one of the conductive contacts.